Warped panel and method of forming same



J. HERZOG.

WARPED PANEL AND METHOD OF FORMING SAME.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 8, 1918.

1,343,320. Patented June 15,1920.

W INVENTORQ ATTORNEY operations,

ric;

JOHN HERZOG, or sAeIN 'w, icnIeAN.

WARPED PANEL nn 'llfE'II-IOD or FORMING SAME.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN HERZOG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Saginaw, in the county of Saginaw and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Warped Panels and Methods of Forming Same; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art "to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to the manufacture of panels and pertains more particularly to an improved method of making wooden panels, such for example as the sides of phonograph cabinets and the llke.

The improved method is more particularly adapted to the shaping of the panel surface so that the said surface will show an artistic and ple'asingform. I Panels of such form usually have bowed or warped surfaces to-relieve the effectof rigidity which the cabinet would have if'the sldes were perfectly flat.

The best artistic effect is produced when the surface of the panel is warped both in longitudinal direction and transversely, so

that parts of the surface are slightly bumped or bulged outwardly and other parts are slightly dished inwardly.

he amount of bulge or dish given tothe surface is usually slight to produce the best artistic effect in the. finished cabinet, but

unless it is present to some extent the value -of the artistic effect 'ofthe cabinet is reducedr r It is, therefore, the ob ect off my present invention to provide a slmple and effectlve method for forming the warped surfaces of panels so that the surface will be warped both longitudinally and transversely, that is to say, bulged in some places and dlshed in other placesx 1 In following out my method I mount oneor more panel blanks on the flat face'of-a large 'revoluble disk, thepanel being located away from the'center ofthe disk so that the panel as a Whole revolves around the center of rotation 'of-the disk. The disk is then revolved at a suitable cuttlng speed 7 and the. panel is faced off' by. means of a turning tool, the cutting edge of which is presented to the face of the panel as; 1t revolves, as in'ordinary face-plate turning elements of the surfaces.

5-5 ofFig. 4.. r

Specification of Letters Patent. 4 Patent d J fi 15 0' iAp plicati on filed July s, 1918. Serial No. 243,950.

While the tool is being moved transversely along the face of the panel so as to cut and dished, not only lengthwise but theyare also warped crosswise, so that some parts of the surface of the panel are slightly concave and others slightly convex. Usually there arenot more than, say, two or three places in the surface ,of a well deslgned panel that include straight lines as With a few exceptlons, any line taken in any direction in the surface of. the panel will be'a curved line, whereas if the panel were formed by sawlng, as 1n a bandisaw, the transverse lines of the. surface would all be straight lines. 7

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 1s a front view of a panel formed accord- .ing to my improved method, the straight lines of the surface of the panel indicatmg lines along which the panel has been .cut for the purpose of showing the contour of the surface in the plane'indicated by those lines. I v Fig.2 is a diagrammaticview showing the contour of thepanel surface at different distances from the center line of'the panel outward toward the side edge.

Fig. 8 are successive contourstaken in planes across the panel.

- Fig. 4; is a diagrammatlc faceview of the disk on which the panels are-mounted. 7

' Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on the line As is clearly shown in the drawings, the I panels are formed by mounting them'onlthe face of the disk, revolving the disk so the panels travelat-aproper cutting speed and then formingrthe faces of the panels by -means of a cutting tool, preferably, in the -man'ner *describedin my co-pending applicationSerial No. 243949.

Numerals 1 to 7 in Figs. 1 and 3 show the successive transverse contours at different 'heightsalongthe panel. Numerals 1 to 3 inclusive show successive contours 'atdiffer ent distances out from the center of the panel. 8 represents the revolving disk and 9 and 10. aretW0 panels mounted thereon.

11 represents a series of cutting tools, by

which the outer face of the panel is formed. The curvatures of the panel contours-have been exaggerated in the drawing, for pur pose of better illustration. They are, however, exact reproductions of sectionsof a small model panel formed by the method herein described. i 1

Referring to the successive transverse sections onthe lines 1 to 7 inclusive, as shown in-Fig. 3, it will be noted that contour 1 is convex; 2 is practically straight; 3 is concave"; 4: is still more, concave; 5 is practi- Cally straight; and 6 and 7 are increasingly concave.

vReferring to Fig. 2 showing the contours I of longitudinal sections, the warping of the V surfaces in the longitudinal direction at dif- 'ferent'distances from the center line ofthe panel is clearly illustrated. I p V In the drawings I have shown only the front surface of the panel blank'as having 7 been formed bymy improved inethoehbut it is obvious that the reverse face; may be formed in the same inanner'by turning the 7 panel over and mounting it '0n the disk 8 with its shaped face next the disk and then facing off'the reverse surface of the panel in the manner above described. It is further obvious that the'reverse"face' ofr-tlfe panel may be formed with exactly the same contour as the front face, so thata number of panels can be piled together their respective front and back surfaces willexactly fit together. Hence .inyin provect method makes it possible to form the front and reverse surfaces exactly alil'ze. This produces a panel that varies somewhat in thickness in its different parts. It is fill-i111- portant'advantage in the manufacture of cabinets that when a number of such-panels have been faced with veneer they can be "piled together and subjected'to heavy pressure, as in a hydraulic press, thereby-firmly and uniformly gluing the venee'r'to' the face of the panel without any danger of'crush; Ing or cracking either th'e vene'er or the panels, because every'part of the rearsu-rface of the warped panel isuniforrnly supported by the front surface ofth'e adjacent panel.

Panels with front and back surfacfes exa'ctly alike are to be distinguished from panels formed by bending or bulging fiat panel blanks ofuniform thickness in a, forming pr'e'ss. Such methodwould produce a panel of uniformfthickness, but the inner r and outer surfaces would not be of the same shape. 3 Consequently it would not be possi, ble to nest such panels and subject them to the necessary pressure for veneering purposes,-since theload would be unevenlydis tributed over the panel surface,-and the panels would break. i

l/Vith my improved method,-however,-l

center of revolution is preferably suehth'at a point on the line, as for example, acutmade possible.

"connected by lines substantially a'parallel to am enabled to produce panels of identical contours Oll jtl'lc lr ln side and outside faces and can thereby press them in a'veneer press in large quantities and do the work both rapidly and accurately. Y

The artistic effect of panels produced as above described is due as previbusly'stated, to their dished and bulged faces. These faces are parts of a surface of revolution,- as it is evident frominspection ofthe; diagralnmati'c Figs; 4" and 5,? This surface of revolutionma'y be-concei ved as being dey scribed by revolving a radial linethat is curved throughoutits length or thatvariesf axially throughout its length" Any polnt on such a 'revolving line will desc ri b'eacircle on the-surface of revolutionfandidescribes a circular arc'onthe panelitself, the l'ength of thesagitta of the'arc depending upon the width of the panel with respectto its distance radially from the center of revolu tion,

In ractice the width-{cf the panel with respect 'to-it's distance out from the ting tool in fixed p ositioi'i'during a single "revolution of the panel will describe an arc having" 'a;' substantial sag'itta. But because -'of the axial variation offthe lineof revolution its successive *radial p'oints do.notinec f ess rilyii in the's'an e plane of revolution. Consequently a straight edge applied to: the surface tangential sc the elementalarcsias lines 1 to in Fig. 1 will not general-l *fit the surface of the panel, but .wil'l dise ose,

' as indicated atl av iii-Fig"; 3', a transv'crsely "about one of its ends;

' ,2- A. panel havingafac'e 'thereof iformed l by generating a surface of 'revolutien'de-r scribed by revolving line curve'dtransversely to the planeofr'evolution. 11. I 3. A panel havingia face' th'ereof' formed by generating'a surface ofa nvoliitionfde scribed by;revolving a line curved- "trans versely to the plane of revolution and-die posed substantially at right angles" to the of rotation.

'4. A panel comprisingja Substantially rectangular section cutfrom a surface of r'evo lution that varies axially on avcuiwejd line throughout its radial length, "said I panel bounded by substantially tangential 7 lines and on opposite sides of a radius.

' 5. A panel comprising a section of a surface of revolution defined by the revolution about one of its ends of a line curved transversely of its plane of revolution, said panel being bounded by substantially tangential lines connected by lines substantially parallel to and on opposite sides of a radius comprising such a chord of the circle of revolution that a tool in fixed position during a single revolution of the panel will describe an are having a substantial sagitta and cutting with a tool whereby to cut across the panel from edge to'edge thereof in a circular arc, said tool and panel having relative radial movement and simultaneous movement toward and away from each other- 7. The herein described method of form ing a panel having the facethereof warped both longitudinally and transversely, comprising revolving a panel about a centerexterior to the panel, the face of the panel lying substantially in the plane of revolution'of the panel, the Width of the panel comprising such a chord of the circle of revolution that a tool in fixed position during a single revolution of the panel will describe an are having a substantial sagitta;

and cutting yvith a tool whereby to cut across the panel from edge to edge thereof in a circular arc, said 'tool and panel having relative radial movement and. simultaneous movement toward and away from each other.

8. A panel having both its front and back faces formed by generating a surface of revolutiondescrlbed by revolving a l1ne curved transversely to the plane ofrevolution,

whereby both faces of the panel are of iden-' tical contour, for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereofI aflix my signature.

JOHN HERzoe, 

